overnight stock market
On Friday (January 14), most global stock markets closed down, and the market's concerns about central bank speeding up and tightening currencies increased. US stock three major indexes closed mixed, S&P 500 rose 0.08%, Nasdaq rose 0.59%, and Dow fell 0.56%. Most of the popular Chinese stocks listed in the list rose, while bank stocks fell collectively. Major European stock indexes closed down collectively, with the German DAX 30 index falling 0.93%, the UK's FTSE 100 index falling 0.28%, the French CAC 40 index falling 0.81%, and the European Stoke 50 index falling 1.01%.
Commodity market
In terms of energy, crude oil futures closed higher on Friday. Oil prices rose for the fourth consecutive week due to supply restrictions and the geopolitical situation in Russia and Ukraine. WTI crude oil futures closed up 2.63% to $84.27 per barrel; Brent crude oil futures closed up 2.24% to $86.47 per barrel. Both major crude oil contracts have entered the overbought zone, the first time since the end of October. Both the United States and mainland Europe natural gas fell, but the United States natural gas rose nearly 8% throughout the week.
Gold prices fell, affected by the prospect of US interest rate hikes and the strengthening of the US dollar to push U.S. Treasury yields up. COMEX gold futures closed down 0.22% at $1,817.3 per ounce. COMEX silver futures fell 0.76% to $22.99 per ounce. Nickel prices rose to their highest level since 2011, with inventory cuts due to supply shortages and investors expect demand from the electric vehicle industry to rise.
Market news
[U.S. Treasury Department: US federal government debt exceeds 29.8 trillion US dollars]
According to data from the US Treasury Department, as of January 14 local time, the US federal government debt has exceeded 29.8 trillion US dollars, approaching the 30 trillion US dollars mark. Analysts point out that in the medium and long term, the U.S. fiscal and debt situation is unsustainable. According to data from the U.S. Treasury Department, the federal government's fiscal deficit in fiscal year 2021 (October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021) reached US$2.77 trillion.
[U.S. residential sales hit the biggest drop in 18 months, scarce housing stock pushed up prices]
U.S. residential sales hit the biggest drop in the first few months of the COVID-19 lockdown period as housing stocks fell to record lows. According to a report released by Redfin Corp, residential transaction volume fell 11% year-on-year in December, the biggest annual decline since June 2020. Demand is still strong, but insufficient housing supply has hindered transactions. Active listings, that is, the number of properties for sale at any time during the month, fell 19% year-on-year to historical lows. Meanwhile, house prices rose 15% to a median of $382,900. Fierce competition for limited housing is driving up housing prices. In turn, it has forced some first-time home buyers to exit the market, especially as mortgage rates begin to rise from near record lows.
[U.S. President Biden announced a allocation of $40 billion to repair bridges]
On January 14, local time, US President Biden made a public speech on the progress of the implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure bill he signed and announced a new plan explaining how to provide funds through the bill to repair and replace the US bridges. Biden said that there are about 45,000 bridges in the United States that need to be repaired or replaced, and the government will allocate $40 billion as funds for the repair of the bridge. Of this, $12.5 billion will be used as funding for the renovation of major bridges, and $27.5 billion will be used as funding for the repair of other small and medium-sized bridges.
[Biden nominates three candidates for Fed ]
US President Biden announced on January 14 that he would nominate former Treasury official Sarah Bloom Ruskin as the Fed's vice chairman in charge of financial regulation, and at the same time, he nominated two university professors as Fed directors. In a statement issued by White House on the same day, Biden said that the US economy is currently facing the challenge of rising prices and the Federal Reserve needs to play a solid and independent leadership role. Ruskin is one of the most qualified vice-chairmen of the Federal Reserve's financial regulation; Lisa Cook, professor of economics at Michigan State University, and Philip Jefferson, professor of economics at Davidson College, are talented economists with extensive experience in a range of economic issues.
[ New York Fed Governor: The Fed is approaching a decision to raise interest rates in ]
Fed Williams said on Friday that given the signs of very strong labor market at present, the Fed is approaching a decision to raise interest rates gradually. "The next step to reduce monetary stimulus is to gradually raise the near-zero benchmark interest rate to a more normal level, and given the obvious signs of strengthening the labor market, we are approaching a decision to initiate interest rate normalization." He did not give a specific timetable for when the Fed will start hike interest rates, and pointed out that "the time of such decisions will be based on careful consideration of extensive data and information, and will pay close attention to our goals for full employment and price stability."
[ Omickron strain ravages the whole of the United States and the California hospital system is on the verge of collapse]
According to multiple American media reports on January 14, affected by the Omickron strain of the new coronavirus, the number of confirmed cases of new coronavirus pneumonia in the United States has risen rapidly. As of this week, the average number of new confirmed cases nationwide nationwide was almost more than triple the peak of last winter’s infection. The worsening of the epidemic is hitting the medical system across the United States, and pharmacies in the United States have had to temporarily close some stores due to shortage of employees. Schools in some parts of the United States are also considering re-entering the online teaching model due to the epidemic.
["Horror Data" is upset! The high inflation finally reduced American consumers' desires]
On Friday, the U.S. Census Bureau released its retail sales report in December last year. Affected by supply chain bottlenecks and high inflation, this indicator recorded its largest month-on-month decline in 10 months. Specific data shows that US retail sales fell 1.9% month-on-month in December last year, continuing to hit a new low since February last year. Previously, analysts expected the indicator to remain flat, and the growth rate in November also lowered from 0.3% to 0.2%; core retail sales fell 2.3% month-on-month in December, which was also lower than analysts' expectations of growth of 0.2%. Financial Forum Zero hedges said that the decline in retail sales indicates that demand has slowed down and inflation may finally begin to weaken, but the Fed may not like this trend of economic contraction.
[Germany Federal Statistics Office: Germany's economic growth in 2021 is 2.7%]
According to the latest data released by the German Federal Statistics Office on January 14, after preliminary statistics, Germany's economic growth in 2021 is 2.7%. This growth is lower than previous expectations from experts and the federal government. In 2021, the German economy gradually began to recover from the epidemic crisis. Economic experts have predicted that Germany's economic growth is expected to reach 4% throughout the year, while the federal government expects it to be 3.5%. The German Federation of Industry said that the supply chain bottleneck problem is the main reason why Germany's economic growth rate is lower than expected. Many companies in the country's automotive, electrical and mechanical engineering industries are affected by supply chain bottlenecks, which slows the industrial recovery, with losses expected to be around 50 billion euros . In addition, the lack of chips, components and raw materials will continue to hinder production recovery for a long time.
[Germany Defense Minister stressed that the " Nord Stream-2" project should not be linked to the Ukrainian issue]
On January 13, local time, German Defense Minister Rambrecht said in an interview with the media that the "North Stream-2" natural gas pipeline project should not be "involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine." Previously, Mitzenich, chairman of the German Bundestag SPD, and SPD Secretary-General Kunett, also expressed similar views. Rambrecht said the current Ukrainian crisis should be resolved through dialogue and negotiation, rather than involve projects that are not related to it as a bargaining chip for negotiation.
[UK GDP exceeded the pre-epidemic level in November 2021]
Data released by the UK's National Bureau of Statistics on January 14 showed that the UK's GDP in November 2021 increased by 0.9% month-on-month, and its economic scale exceeded the pre-epidemic level for the first time, an increase of 0.7% from February 2020. Data shows that in November last year, the output of the service industry, production sector and construction industry in the UK increased month-on-month; the output of the service industry and construction industry was 1.3% higher than the pre-epidemic level, while the output of the production sector was 2.6% lower than the pre-epidemic level.Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the Office of National Statistics, said the UK economy grew strongly last November and the construction industry also recovered from its sluggish state in the previous months.
[ EU The total foreign trade volume in November 2021 showed a deficit of 8.3 billion euros]
According to data released by the EU Statistics Bureau on January 14 local time, the total foreign trade volume of 27 EU countries in November 2021 showed a deficit of 8.3 billion euros. This is the first time since January 2014 that the EU has experienced a monthly trade deficit . During the same period in 2020, the EU's foreign trade surplus was 24.5 billion euros.
